The wind is warm and the sun is rising, and spring is in full bloom. The Shanghai Grand Theater today announced the spring and summer performance season of 2023-24, continuing the theme of "Yuan" and continuing to add new performances based on the colorful performances announced last autumn. It plans to launch 51 stages from March 19 to early August, with a total of 345 performances. Performances create a colorful spring and summer performing arts scene.
International famous troupes gathered to present classic plays
Looking at the spring and summer performances of the Shanghai Grand Theater, it is not difficult to see that music and dance projects are the highlight. Italy's La Scala Ballet, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, "ballet goddesses" Zakharova and Osipova, Peruvian tenor Florez, American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato and other famous troupes They performed one after another, providing visual and auditory feasts to the Shanghai audience.
In the field of classical ballet, Italy's La Scala Ballet, founded in 1778, is undoubtedly the leader. From March 21st to 24th, as a well-deserved shining pearl among the world's ballet companies, the "Ballet Company" La Scala will come to Shanghai to present romantic classic ballets under the leadership of its new artistic director Manuel Legris. "Giselle". This is the dance company’s return to the Shanghai Grand Theater after six years, and it is also the only stop in mainland China.
The long-awaited "ballet beauty" Svetlana Zakharova, who has long been awaited by dance fans, has been confirmed to come to Shanghai in May. This woman attracted world attention in the opening performance of the Sochi Winter Olympics and was nicknamed by Chinese dance fans. The "Z Baby" ballet star will not only present "The Legend of Chanel", which combines ballet, music and fashion, telling the life of "Queen of Fashion" Chanel, but will also perform as a couple on the same stage in Shanghai for the first time - with her husband, the famous violinist Vadine Lieutenant. Guests and a group of star dancers from the Bolshoi Theater performed "On Pointe" which intertwined violin and ballet.
html In July, another dance queen Osipova will make her debut in mainland China at the Shanghai Grand Theater. Osipova has served as the principal of two world-renowned dance companies, the Bolshoi Ballet and the Royal Ballet. Her energetic mid-air jumping skills and dramatic performances are commendable. When she comes to Shanghai this time, Osipova will carefully select dance numbers that are both artistic and creative to show her energy and enthusiasm for ballet.
In terms of music, as a special presentation of the China Shanghai International Arts Festival, on June 24, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, known as the "Bright Star of the Music World", will conduct a close-up concert under the leadership of chief conductor Kirill Petrenko. During the 10-day trip to Shanghai, in addition to presenting 4 symphonies and several chamber music performances with pianist Yuja Wang, the "Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in Shanghai" will be presented from multiple angles and in an all-round way through a series of art education activities, showcasing the famous Group style.
Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Florez, one of the "Three Tenors of the New World" and a superstar in the classical vocal music world, came to the Shanghai Grand Theater for the first time in 2019, with a 40-minute encore. "The enthusiasm of "Zangcao" vocal music lovers came from all over the country to watch. This old friend of the Grand Theater will appear on the stage again on the romantic day of May 20. As a new generation of lyric tenor active on the international stage, this time he will bring Rossini, Donizetti, and Puccini , Verdi and many other composers’ classic opera arias.
html On June 9, American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato once again returned to the Grand Theater stage with the Golden Apple Ancient Orchestra. Under the name "Garden of Eden", through a set of repertoire spanning four centuries, Handel and Wagner , Mahler and contemporary composer Rachel Portman, winner of the Academy Award for Best Score, combine different styles of music and dramatic elements to contribute a concert that explores the pure essence of existence and the relationship between man and nature.In addition, the Shanghai Grand Theater has tapped into the resource endowment of Chinese theaters to further develop and polish small but beautiful performance brands such as "One Person's Classics" and "Hidden Series". On April 9 and June 9, Vitaly Pisarenko, the gold medal winner of the Liszt International Piano Competition, and Kuang Junhong, the first prize winner of the Guitar Competition of the ARD Munich International Music Competition, will perform in the "One Person's Classical" concert series ; On May 24, the interesting, stylish, salty or sweet "Hidden Series" will launch the Guqin improvisational concert "Transformation from Within" by Wu Na, a benchmark figure in Guqin art innovation.
focuses on literary IP and condenses the "Shanghai flavor"
Literary works and stage art often complement each other. This spring and summer, the Shanghai Grand Theater is actively planning, focusing on literary IP, selecting a group of stage works derived from the classic creations of poets and writers from different eras, different regions, and different cultural backgrounds, presenting dance dramas, musicals, Multi-dimensional performance types such as dramas will allow you to encounter the rebirth of classic characters on the stage.
's original national dance drama "Dream of Red Mansions" is a "hot" dance drama created by Jiangsu Grand Theater in recent years. It won the 13th Chinese Dance "Lotus Award" Dance Drama Award in 2023. From May 8th to 12th, the drama will Return to the Grand Theater to reinterpret national literature classics from the perspective of the younger generation.
From April 18th to 21st, the musical "Let's Enter the Wine", with Zheng Yunlong as the artistic director and starring, focuses on Li Bai's growth process in Jiangyou, Sichuan, and reproduces the ancient Bashu and Jiangyou local landscape, customs and customs on the stage. .
In addition, the Chinese original musical "Unqualified" has both good reputation and box office among young audiences, the Chinese version of the musical "The Brothers Karamazov" produced by the Shanghai Grand Theater Creative Center, and one of the Hesse trilogy produced by Miao Shike The musical "Narziss and Goldmund" will be on the stage of the NCPA this spring and summer.
Among many works that have been transformed from text to stage, Mo Yan's play "Crocodile" has been highly anticipated by many audiences. This is also the play's premiere in Shanghai. "Crocodile" is Mo Yan's latest masterpiece ten years after he won the Nobel Prize for Literature. It explores the deep secrets of human nature through an infinitely growing, talking crocodile and deeply explores the theme of "desire." Integrating Shakespeare's wonderful dialogue, imaginative dramatic conflict design, and unique "Mo Yan's magic", "Crocodile" will be presented on the stage in July this year, a journey toward the light in redemption.
Shanghai-style literature occupies a corner because it is "open, diverse and inclusive". The Shanghai Grand Theater also deliberately injected a little "Shanghai flavor" when planning this performance season. In April, the second season of the stage play "Flowers" adapted from Jin Yucheng's original work of the same name, which is inextricably linked to the first season but is independent of the first season, will be performed at the Shanghai Grand Theater. With the help of stage design, it will alternate between the 1970s and the 1990s. It tells the choices and fate of A Bao, Hu Sheng and Xiao Mao, returning to the characteristics of the city and showing the unique "Shanghai accent".
The stage play "Song of Everlasting Sorrow" produced by the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center and adapted from Wang Anyi's novel of the same name will also be presented in Shanghainese in July. An old dream of a prosperous Shanghai reappears on the stage, and a custom picture of old and new Shanghai from the 1940s to the 1980s slowly unfolds. Spanning three eras, the life of the ill-fated "Miss Shanghai" Wang Qiyao was unfolded in front of the audience, and the essence of the 270,000-word novel was condensed into three and a half hours in the theater.
In addition to literary IP, the immersive suspense theater "Secret No. 9" adapted from the British BBC longevity gold medal drama of the same name has been performing at the Shanghai Grand Theater·Space No. 9 (small theater on the 5th floor) since the end of December last year. , the performance retains the sincerity of the original drama to the greatest extent and incorporates a unique live viewing method. It has received high praise from young audiences and was sold out as soon as tickets were issued.
4 new public spaces have been unveiled, making life more artistic
"Make art more life, make life more art", this has been the philosophy of the Shanghai Grand Theater for many years. According to Zhang Xiaoding, general manager of the Shanghai Grand Theater, the encounter between the theater and the audience, It should not be limited to the short time of watching a performance. "What is the meaning of theater? On the one hand, it is a cultural space for displaying and disseminating art. On the other hand, it should also provide citizens with more leisure public spaces. They can Walk in easily."
Based on this thinking, the Shanghai Grand Theater will start upgrading the four water features on the west side of the theater in February 2023.Lasting for nearly a year, as a continuous extension of a+ art space, four new public spaces - 1998 gallery (1998 lounge), drama cafe, backstage art store (book stage), unique space ( VIP room) renovation has been completed, and the narrow space of about 400 square meters has been transformed into a restaurant, cafe, and art store. Except for special spaces, the other three spaces have been opened to the public.
Among them, the 1998 Art Gallery is a dining space. Its name commemorates the opening year of the Grand Theater. In addition to providing Western food, it also provides citizens and tourists with coffee and drinks that can be ordered to take away; the Ma Ma Cafe is currently the most popular. , its decoration style also has a unique theater atmosphere, with red curtains falling from the sky, and two rows of blue seats dismantled from the small theater placed against the wall, with seat numbers on them. Drinking a cup of coffee feels like sitting in a theater; The backstage art store is full of cultural and creative products designed and developed by the Grand Theater, and will be updated in real time according to the performance repertoire. In addition, the store also displays photocopies of signed posters of classic performances performed at the Shanghai Grand Theater for more than 20 years, allowing people to appreciate the master's style while walking.
In addition to the 400 square meters of new public space, the Shanghai Grand Theater’s ticketing center of approximately 300 square meters was also renovated at the end of last year. The renovated ticketing center is closely connected to the entrance of 1998 Art Gallery, extending the a+ art space. In this way, multiple spaces in the theater are opened up to form a continuous circulation line, allowing citizens to have a greater sense of gain when strolling through the theater and creating a more fluid structure. A sexual and interactive art ecological field.
